Girly Day

Or that's what Abby likes to call it. Friday afternoon Jeff's brother called and said there was some emergency work to be done on family property, and could he borrow our car so he could go get it done? We have asked them to borrow our car if they need it, as they are currently a one car, 2 job, live next to nowhere family. So we said of course. Saturday morning Jeff asked if he could be of any assistance, and decided to go help too. That is when Harvey started begging to go. So it worked out that Jeff took Harvey and the dog with him and Abby and I had the day to ourselves- baby in tow.

She rode her bike over to the playground while I helped get Harvey ready to go, then Willie and I went to meet her. It's hard to believe I have a child old enough to ride a bike and go somewhere without me, but she is basically there. After we played on the playground we came home and cleaned up the garage while Willie napped, so we could park the van in it again. Abby was a great help, sweeping and picking up garbage for me, while I hung up bikes and lifted things to shelves. It wasn't a hard job, but it was one of those things that was very nice to get done. Abby had done a lot of listening to stories to earn reading minutes, and her prize was a Happy Meal certificate. I got a certificate for a premium salad for doing the reading. So off we went to McD's for lunch. The last time we went to a play place it was no fun at all and the kids kept getting stuck. But apparently they've upgraded- adding in Foosball, air hockey, and basketball. That's in addition to the traditional tunnel maze, which Abby really loved. Her favorite thing is to play in the tunnel slides on the school playground. Next on the agenda was dropping off stuff in the back of the car- recycling and a stroller for DI. The recycling center seems to have shut down. The gates are closed, very frustrating. We went over to DI to drop off a too bulky single stroller, and found a nice compact one for just 3 dollars. Then we went inside and found that they were having a clearance sale- several racks were just one dollar. I was able to buy Abby quite a bit of fun clothes so now she has some that will work for school. Not new, but that is actually a good thing, I think. I was also able to get some onesies for Willie, and some tshirts for me. Best thing though was I ran into a friend from St George at my Cedar City DI. We came home, had a fashion show, and kicked back to relax. All in all it was a busy but good day.

*****

Ok so now that I've bored you to tears with the play by play of our Girly Day, I'm going to just make this longer and say how grateful I am. Abby is my personal challenge. She's very dramatic, and precocious, and I am not sure what to do with her most of the time. I usually find myself expecting her to behave much more grown up than her actual age, or treating her like she still is incapable of doing anything. Maybe it is because she's the oldest, and I'm still figuring this out?? At least partly. I have tried in the past to take time with just her, but have struggled with enjoying what she wants to do. Yesterday was a good mix. I found myself really enjoying watching Abby playing on the play ground and the Playplace. I didn't have any of my sort of thing to do, just hold the baby and watch her. Usually that would drive me batty, but I really was able to enjoy it. I had fun shopping, and while she got a little bit bored, it was mostly about her so she enjoyed it too. Abby and I were really able to just enjoy each other and that one on one time when I didn't have to worry about Harvey or the dog was really very nice. Jeff and Harvey had a good time too. They spent the day chasing cows and mending fences. Harvey occupied himself digging cow-traps, lol. Harvey declared he didn't miss me at all when they got home today- and I didn't miss him much either. Yet it was absolutely wonderful seeing him again. We need to take more opportunities to enjoy our children on a personal level. They are quite different people on their own. I don't know if Harvey will ever be as excited to spend time with me instead of Daddy, or if Abby will get quite as thrilled about a Daddy Date as she does Girly Time. But soon we will do it- split them up and enjoy them, then come back together as a family appreciating each other even more.